Breakpoint
by zerxes96
Summary: Half-ghosts have access to every ghost power conceivable. With a perk like that, anyone would want to be a halfa. Right?
1. Chapter 1

_**Wendy High School, Amity Park: Valerie's POV**_

Vlad Masters is half-ghost. Dani Phantom is half-human.

 _How many other half-ghost, half-human beings are there? Is Danny Phantom half-human?_

I didn't know what to think, or who to trust.

"Valerie?"

My dad brought me back to reality. I could barely discern his shape in the dimly lit auditorium we were in. If only we could've exchanged the sweltering heat for more light.

"You okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind."

"You know, the Fentons are up next."

We were at a ghost-hunting convention, at Wendy High School: Casper High's biggest football rival and twin high school to Casper High. The current speaker looked like an older version of Kwan. I was going to point it out to my dad, but I didn't want to sound racist, just in case I was wrong.

Anyway, he had just showed off his upgraded Ghost Positioning System, which could detect ghosts anywhere in the world right down to the street they were on. Come to think of it, two operatives from the Guys in White were standing behind him, so maybe this Asian guy was their boss, or a new recruit.

The Guys in White operatives moved back to their seats in the front row of the auditorium, while the new presenter that looked like Kwan had rushed out of the room on a phone call.

I glanced at my watch; 6:17 PM.

By the time I looked back, the Fentons had taken the stage. Well, the Fentons minus one.

"Good evening, everyone," Mr. Fenton started. Mrs. Fenton and Jazz were standing on either side of him. Danny was nowhere to be seen. "Today I present to you the Fenton Watch!"

"It's a portable Ghost Portal in the form of a touch screen watch," Maddie Fenton elaborated.

Jazz didn't say a word through the entire presentation. At least, the part of the presentation that they were able to get through. After that, Danny Phantom attacked.

He let out a scream as he materialized in the air above the Fentons and crashed into the stage and into the four-armed jetpack the Extreme Ghostbreakers had been about to present.

It was hard to see him through all the dust and smoke clouding the air, but I could see his scrawny silhouette getting back up off the ground. It made me remember how strong Phantom really was.

I noticed Phantom seemed to be eyeing the ceiling, so I followed his gaze. There was a green-skinned ghost in a long black coat and grayish-white cape that extended over his shoulders.

I remembered him, he was the ghost Phantom was fighting a while ago at the mall; around the time Danny and I dated. My cheeks flushed red as I remembered that.

"Geez, no one told me this was gonna be an _armed_ reception," Phantom said as he threw the four-armed jetpack back to the Ghostbreakers, flying back up towards the technology ghost.

"Valerie," my dad started. "Don't even think about it."

I pretended I didn't hear him and clenched my fists. A blueish-white wall of electricity enveloped me as my ghost hunting armor formed around me. I jumped in the air, my red and black hoverboard materializing underneath my feet. Then, I was off. I fired my wrist laser at the other ghost who crashed into Phantom before hitting the ground, effectively taking out both ghosts.

"Eat cytoplasm, ghosts," Maddie Fenton snarled as she swiped her index finger across the Fenton Watch's screen.

The screen elevated a couple of centimeters and a hole the size of a headphone jack opened on the side. A green beam started charging inside it. When the beam was about to fire, Jazz ran up to Mrs. Fenton and bumped into her. "Oops!"

The green laser fired and missed the ghosts.

"A cytoplasmic ghost watch? Interesting." The technology ghost turned into a stream of ectoplasmic energy and flew towards the watch Mr. Fenton was wearing.

I wasn't about to let Danny's parents face danger all by themselves, so I enabled the ghost stinger, through which vivid pink energy sparked between the two prongs protruding from the front of my hoverboard until they collided at the tip and fired an energy ball at the tech ghost, shocking him and giving me an opportunity to fly closer.

"Red and black," Mrs. Fenton called out, addressing my suit. "I like!"

I smiled at her, appreciating the fact that my crush's mom approved of my side job.

Mrs. Fenton and I shifted our expressions from joking to serious and from each other to the only ghost left standing. Or so we thought.

The technology ghost solidified and got back up.

"Oh, please" he boasted, "As if your technology can affect me, Technus, master of technology! Who do you think it is that _gave_ you that suit in the first place?"

I didn't know what he was talking about at first. I got this suit when I was zapped by a security camera, I figured the interaction between the ghost energy and the armor I already had had somehow given me this new suit. Then I realized Technus' face had been on the screen of the hub at Axion Labs the night I got my suit.

 _Could he really be the one who gave me this suit? Why would a ghost give me something to could help me destroy ghosts?_

I didn't have the time to question the tech ghost's motives because my suit started operating on its own.

"Hey, what-." The magnetic blades on my feet stopped working, and I fell off of the hoverboard. The board went and attacked Mrs. Fenton, wrapping its twin prongs on either hip and shocking her into unconsciousness.

I scanned my surroundings for any more potential enemies. Phantom was nowhere to be seen and Mr. Fenton was also lying unconscious, his Fenton Watch missing.

It was then that I experienced what Technus and Mrs. Fenton must've experienced not too long ago; the thin, almost transparent micro hairs on my arms and back goosebumped up, feeling like they were being painfully ripped out. I felt like the suit I was wearing was the only thing keeping my body from literally not falling apart. Not long after, I felt my heartbeat slow down drastically and the willpower keeping my suit active diminished. I was dying.

My ears faintly registered a loud beep and the words "One ghost eliminated," meaning someone must've taken care of Technus in all the confusion.

I barely heard Danny yelling my name, and just as loosely felt him wrap his arms around me. The shock that was coursing through me seemed to pass into him.

I mustered up all my strength to not pass out: to sustain my eyes as they fed me blurred snapshots of the transformation that was happening before me. The cyan static that surrounded me extended onto Danny and dispersed as the red circle on his shirt made way for a familiar stylized "D", bread-crumbing into a black hazmat jumpsuit, slightly darker skin, a single glowing green eye, and silver-white hair. That's the last thing I remember before I phased completely into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Technus' POV: Magnus Labs, Ghost Zone**_

I was wise to go after the ghost child's father. His mother's watch would've proven far more difficult to acquire.

The child even did the honor of teleporting me back to my realm of the Ghost Zone in a desperate act to save his angry ghost hunter girlfriend.

Pitiful, really. The ghost child has so much potential; save for those human emotions dragging him down. At least now he was less of a threat with his sacrifice to save the angry ghost hunting girl.

I digress. I wasn't planning on stealing the Fenton Watch. That is, until I heard about its cytoplasmic core.

I have been planning this for so long and would have succeeded already, had Skulker not stolen my lightning rod to power that halfa buffoon's Ecto-Skeleton. Yet here I am, at last, on the brink of success.

"Soon I will have access to _all_ the ghost powers the halfas possess. AND MORE!"

Oh, how I missed the nebulous heat the ectomatter in the Ghost Zone emitted. The Human Plane is far too chilly for my taste.

I floated over to the part of my lab I had reserved specifically for this event. It was set up just like the lab the Fentons had in their basement when I first materialized in their world.

The engineer/programmer in me went down the list of steps I had written down for this to make sure everything was going according to plan.

"Activating Hexagonal Port Mechanism."

"Port Mechanism online."

"Cyto-Filtrator standing by."

I placed my hand on the table before me. It was set up like a DJ's, rectangular sliding knobs and a slot covered by a cubic cover beside them. I uncapped the cubic cover and placed the Fenton Watch inside.

"Scanning device for cytoplasm."

"Cytoplasm…. DETECTED!"

"Far out!" I exclaimed, throwing up my arms with enthusiasm. I was glad no one was around to hear that.

As I basked in my brilliance, I went on over to the Hexagonal Port Mechanism and held my breath.

This was it. It was all or nothing. There were two buttons in front of me; one said "on," the other read "off."

I pressed the button that said "on."

The Port Mechanism booted up as whirring and beeping sounded from it and the table to the far left, respectively.

A flash of black light came from deep inside of the port and consumed me as I struggled not to scream from the pain. Cytoplasm coursed through my veins, and I could feel myself somehow getting both stronger and, in another sense, weaker.

Not-so-lucky for me, the epitome of perfect timing showed up as blaring sirens echoed beyond the door to my lair. Walker and his goons.

"Nicolai Technus," started the ghost warden, voice amplified by his megaphone. "You entered the Ghost Zone, and are still, in possession of human contraband. That's against the rules."

"Rules are meant to be broken, my ghost warden friend! Like this!"

I took a deep breath in and concentrated on the very base of my vocal chords until I could feel the ectoplasm building up, much like you humans would feel acidity or after eating too much. At that point, I opened the door and focused all my ecto-energy outwards and into a ghostly wail.

I looked on to all the destruction I had caused. Scores of ghost officers scoured across this quadrant of the Ghost Zone. Walker was bald without his hat.

I wish I could say that was the best moment of my afterlife. That now there was no stopping me on my destiny to rule over all things, whether mechanical or not. But that's not what I felt.

What I felt was a new feeling. Not new in the sense that I have never experienced it before. I am not that naïve. I knew what it was, and I didn't like it.

If I was to undo the damage I had done to myself, I would need the ghost child. That, or start a plague infecting everyone in the Ghost Zone. Obviously, I chose the former.

"Wait! Why capture me, when you can capture the ghost child you so despise?"

"Walker isn't-," Bullet wasn't able to complete his sentence as Walker himself extended his arm perpendicular to him in an order to cease.

"I'm listening."


	3. Chapter 3

**Section 3: Maddie's POV**

 **Wendy High School, Amity Park**

I was having the time of my life at Casper High. My husband, Jack, was showing off his latest invention. My daughter, Jasmine had agreed to come up on stage with us. The only thing I would've changed was for my son, Danny to have been there with us.

We were presenting the Fenton Watch, the first Fenton invention that used our latest line of self-sustaining energy technology. As it turned out, the ectoplasm found in ghosts combined with the cytoplasm found in humans fueled a cyclic chemical reaction that could power a device for approximately the average life expectancy of a human. It amazed me to consider the fact that a half-ghost, half-human being could live for twice the number of years as a regular human.

Ah. Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away with explaining how our inventions work.

The presentation was going off without a hitch. That is, until Danny Phantom and his ghost friend attacked.

It all happened so fast. One minute, I was battling alongside who was probably the best ghost hunter after us, Valerie Gray. The next, I felt excruciating pain as a current of high voltage electricity coursed through my CNS, knocking me unconscious.

By the time I woke up, Valerie was out of her suit and knocked unconscious, with a concerned Danny Phantom kneeling beside her. I paid no mind to either the concerned look, nor the fact that one of his eyes was blue. I assumed that it was Phantom that had done that to the young Gray and was filled with rage. Valerie was a close friend of Danny's and any friend of my babies was as good as a part of the family.

The Guys in White were the only ones left in the auditorium (their boss left the room for what I thought was a phone call), and they weren't exactly helping, simply hiding inside a portable ghost shield. They had an interested look on their faces, and I would find out later that were standing by to test us and see if us Fentons were capable ghost hunters.

I reached into the backpack behind the now-sideways podium and pulled out the Fenton Foamer MK2, which was just a regular Fenton Foamer, only smaller and more energy efficient.

The sniper in me decided to take a back seat as I ran up to Phantom and aimed the Foamer at him point-blank. "Don't even _think_ of hurting her anymore."

The ghost boy turned to me and rolled his eyes. "Oh, boy."

"You're awfully flippant for someone that's about to be blown to ectoplasmic bits."

"Yeah well, a day without danger is like a day without sunshine."

"Yeah, well here's a _light_ snack," I said as I fired the Foamer at him.

A predictable tactic of ghosts is to evade any linear attack, and that's exactly what Phantom did. He turned intangible and the shot of anti-ectoplasmic goo continued its projectile motion past his head and into the seats just behind him. Apparently not in time, because a bit of his hair had shaved off.

The hair, however, was black. I theorized that this was because it was ecto-energy that was keeping Phantom's hair snow-white, and that before he had died, his hair was black.

The ghost boy quickly looked behind him at the hair sample, and back to me. I didn't know what was going on through his mind, but danger seemed to have no effect on him. "A sun-pun, wow I guess I take after my mom."

 _His mom?_

"What was that?"

Finally, Phantom seemed alert for the first time since I regained consciousness.

"Nothing!"

Before I could interrogate him any further, a beam of ectoplasm was fired from next to the podium and engulfed Phantom, sucking him into a vortex.

I turned around to find Jasmine putting on an innocent façade, Fenton Bazooka in hand. Jack was depressed that he didn't get to use his Ghost Fisher on any ghosts today.

"What did you do that for," I questioned.

"Uh… maybe… I don't know. Maybe there might be people or ghosts that would miss Danny if you killed him." After a moment of silence, she continued "Phantom! Danny Phantom. Not _our_ Danny. Hahaha…"

I didn't understand what Jasmine was so worried about, but I thought I _did_ understand where she was coming from. She had always considered ghosts to be no different from humans, having written various thesis papers on ghosts and their emotions. She even felt sympathetic towards ghosts at times.

That's when an idea struck me.

 _I guess I take after my mom._

 _Maybe there might be people or ghosts that would miss Danny if you killed him._

What if Danny Phantom had a family? An entire family of ghosts: ghosts whose existence threatened the safety of the world as we knew it, all living in Amity Park in secret.

I walked over to the sample of hair that laid on top of the Foamer's residue.

"Jasmine, pass me a sample container from the Fenton Backpack."

"What for?"

"Oh, nothing, sweetie! Just… for sample containing!" I didn't want Jasmine to know what I had planned for the sample.

I could use the sample, analyze its ecto signature and reprogram the Booo-merang so seek out Phantom's hiding place, where I could hopefully find the entire family and take care of them for good.

"Ahem. Mrs. Fenton?" The Guys in White had abandoned their ghost shield once all the ghosts in the area were taken care of. "Your ghost-hunting prowess has sparked the attention of the U.S. Government," said the black operative.

"We were wondering if you were interested in joining us in our search for ghosts the world over," finished the white operative.

"Finally! The attention I've been wanting," exclaimed Jack. "I can help you hunt out the ghosts with the Fenton Ghost Fisher version 2."

The two operatives looked at each other and turned back to Jack. "It doesn't look much different from the last time we saw it."

"The difference," Jack responded, "is that it's untangled."

Although Jack was all for this, I had my doubts.

"I don't know. Hunting ghosts, the world over? We have two kids still in school. I don't want to do that to them."

"Jasmine and Daniel, correct? We can offer them full-time positions in our R&D and Ghost Hunting departments on the spot, no need for a high school diploma or college degree."

Jasmine, who was listening from behind, started circling her index finger around her ear, calling them crazy.

"What's so funny?"

I didn't realize the Guys in White had caught me laughing at their expense.

"Oh, nothing!" Eager to change the subject, I continued on "I don't know, I'll think about it."

"Valerie!" Jazz had seen Valerie's hand move as she tried to rub a headache out.

I gasped as she opened her eyes. They were glowing red.

"What… happened," Valerie asked dismally. Then she remembered and became fully alert. "Where's Danny? And that other ghost?"

Valerie tried changing into her ghost hunting gear but convulsed as electricity buzzed and sparked around her.

"Error: Detecting lethal levels of ectoplasm present in host's body renders equipping battle suit impossible at this time."

"Ectoplasm?" I took off the Fenton Watch and wrapped it around Valerie's wrist. The screen booted up and loaded an x-ray view of the young Gray's blood stream. Just as I had feared, there were green blood cells mixed in with the red ones. I sandwiched Valerie's hand between mine.

"Valerie, sweetie. Please, come to Fenton Works. It's urgent."

That's when the unexpected happened. Valerie's hand vanished and her arm dropped, her hand moving through mine.

Hysteria took over Valerie as her hand re-materialized. She turned to Jasmine. I couldn't blame her. Jasmine was only two years older than Valerie. She was probably more comfortable consulting her than someone 30 years older.

"Where's Danny?"

"Uh… he's… not here," responded an unsure Jasmine.

"What's going on, here?" Andong had come back from his phone call. He didn't seem to question the ghost attack, or the fact that most of the auditorium had been cleared out; rather, he seemed more concerned that the Guys in White were conversing with Jasmine, Valerie, and me.

"We're just recruiting new members. We need all the help we can get, and the Fentons are the best in the town."

"You recruited a woman? What is wrong with you?"

The white operative seemed just as in shock as I was. "But, sir…"

Something about the whole situation made Andong incredibly uneasy.

"You're fired. Tell Sanctum HQ to send another operative to take your place."

"Um, sir, we don't have an HQ, yet."

"Then where is your base of operations, now?"

"We were planning on using Fenton Works, sir."

Andong turned to me as we exchanged glares. "Fine."

We all packed up our things as we very lately followed everyone else's lead and evacuated the building. Jack was talking with Andong, Valerie had quite literally vanished, and Jasmine looked concerned for some reason, but I didn't entirely pay much attention to any of that because I was too busy fantasizing about what I could do with the hair sample of Phantom's I had acquired. I could analyze it. I could program the genetic makeup into the booo-merang. I could see what it was that made Phantom so special, even to other ghosts. Maybe even create a countermeasure to all of Phantom's powers, some sort of Phantom Pummeler. Maybe then this Danny Phantom will finally perish.

I uploaded the hair sample into the Ghost Gabber MK2. I'll spare you my monologues and just say that it translates more than just spectral noises, including hair samples.

 _Hmmm. That's strange._

The MK2 was still a prototype, but I am positive that I got everything but the purr translating to work. Yet, here it was saying the hair was that of a human.

Andong's deep voice interrupted my thought process.

"Load up Damon's genetic makeup into the Ghost Positioning System," he commanded. "We have a ghost to find."


	4. Chapter 4

**Section 4: Valerie's POV**

 **Elmerton**

I liked Danny a lot. So much that, in order to keep him safe, I broke up with him to hunt ghosts.

Namely one ghost in particular: Danny Phantom. That may have been because he and his dog were the first two ghosts I had ever met, so that hatred had had the longest time to develop. The fact that those two were also the reason my dad lost his job probably also had a part to play in all of it.

Then there was Danny Fenton. At the beginning of freshman year, I thought very little of him. He was just the bottom of the social grape vine. All my "friends" hated his guts, so I did too, without really getting to know him. Then the Ghost King attacked. That event exposed Danny and I to each other and we became acquaintances, if not friends. After that… I didn't want to think about that.

Anyway.

My suspicions were confirmed on my way away from Wendy High. The general public wasn't used to seeing flying teenagers. What gave that away, you ask? It certainly wasn't my breathtaking knowledge of social constructs, or even having seen it in a movie. It was the mini fighter jet with a sticker that said "Amity Park Support" slapped on the side. Yeah. Not something you'd want on your tail.

Luckily, the pilot was a newbie. His threats gave that away. "Excuse me! You're flying in restricted air space. Please leave."

Lesson one: when threatening someone, try not to use the words 'excuse me.'

I just flew up higher and into the clouds, out of the jet's sight.

"What – where did she go?

Lesson two: when threatening someone, make sure you always have a backup plan in case the threat doesn't work. A weapon, for instance.

If you're wondering why I didn't just turn invisible, it was because I had no idea how I did it the first time to get away from Mrs. Fenton.

A while after my escape from the fighter jet, a shiver went down my spine. I could see my breath, and I'm absolutely sure it wasn't the brisk weather because my breath was red. I had never experienced it before, but I somehow knew what it meant. There was a ghost nearby.

I flew down to the trash site just next to the bank. If there was a ghost about, it would certainly try robbing the bank, though I had no idea why a ghost needed money, especially from a still-developing town.

The wind down here wasn't as strong as it was in the sky, but it was still noticeable. It kicked the loose crumpled paper on the floor around with each breeze. I tucked my hands in my pockets to keep warm. I hadn't been this sensitive before the Ghost Hunting Convention, so I was wondering if my new powers had something to do with it. Maybe I was developing ice-type powers? Or maybe ghosts in general were more sensitive. Then again, Danny never seemed to be this cold when he was roaming around as Phantom.

I heard a yell from around the corner of the dumpster 3 yards ahead.

"Danny, where are you?"

I recognized the voice. It was Dani Phantom.

I ran up to her and hoped that I could still partially deploy my suit. A black glove with a red triangle on it formed and… no static shock. That was a relief.

"Stop right there, ghost," I said as I fired a ring of ecto-disturbers around her, which generated an anti-ghost shield around her.

Dani seemed disappointed that I wasn't who she was looking for.

"You're a ghost hunter," Dani questioned. "But... you're a ghost. I _saw_ you flying."

That sparked the one nerve I didn't want aggravated. "I am _not_ a ghost."

Dani was initially confused, but then a wave of understanding flooded her face.

"Wait, you're the one that helped Danny save me from Vlad! You look so different out of your battle armor."

I got the feeling that Dani didn't quite understand the point I was trying to make about me not being a ghost.

"Look, I'm a ghost _hunter_ first. I stop threats like you."

The ghost girl pouted like the 12-year-old she was.

"I'm not a threat! I'm not doing anything! I'm just living my afterlife!"

I let out a sinister chuckle. I knew I was being arrogant and mean, but I didn't quite care at the time. "Yeah right, ecto-brat. All ghosts are evil."

"What about Danny? He _saved the world_ multiple times!"

That was the last thing I wanted to hear; The thing I was avoiding most, and I wasn't very good at hiding it.

"He's... I don't know! I don't know!"

I got distracted by the whipping winds as a helicopter landed in the patch of dry asphalt to the left of us. On the side of the helicopter was a red "S" with a blueish-white halo around the center.

The main door collapsed as a miniature stairway took its place and out walked A short yet buff Asian man in a red jacket and jeans.

"Do it," the man yelled as the copter's engine dialed down. "Don't listen to that ghost! She's trying to trick you!"

I recognized him from the Ghost Hunting Convention. He was the one with the Guys in White. The guy that looked like Kwan. Even more so now that he was pretty much wearing Kwan's clothes.

"Hey, you're…"

"Andong. I'll explain how I found you later. Just get rid of the threat!"

I turned back to the ghost girl in front of me. I, too, thought she was a threat, but I hadn't yet processed what that meant. If I was to keep the world safe, I would have to…

"I-I don't know," I stuttered. "Now that I'm actually here…"

"If you don't do it," Andong started, "I will."

That wasn't fair in the least. But I knew Andong would have a much more painful way of taking care of Dani. After a bit of hesitation, I turned back and looked Dani in the eyes.

Understanding befell Dani, much to her horror.

I pressed the red button on my glove, and the ecto-disturbers shocked Dani into unconsciousness. After the ghost shield was disarmed, I raised my hand, looked away, and fired; the ecto-brat vanished without a trace.

"Good job," Andong started. "One down, one to go."

"One to go?"

I turned towards Andong to find him holding a skinny, green and silver cylinder with a distinctive jovial face on the side. A Fenton Gadget. More specifically, the Jack o' Nine Tails.

He fired it at me and next thing I knew, my vision faded into blackness for the second time that day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Section 5: Danny's POV**

 **Circadia, Ghost Zone**

I was in a library studying for the history test, alone. My phone started to ring. I'd gotten a text message.

"Fenton Meister! Dash and I are throwing a dance party. We were wondering if you wanted in. ~ Kwan."

Yeah, right. Like they'd ever invite me to hang out with them. They probably just needed something only I could get them or were trying to trick me into embarrassment. I ignored the text and tried studying some more. History was first period. Since I was fighting ghosts all night every night, I'd always fall asleep in class, so I didn't know jack-squat about Nobunaga Oda, or even what year the Sengoku Period of Japan was. I doubted I'd even remember any of these names by test time tomorrow morning.

Around half an hour later, Dash and Dani showed up in the library.

"Oh, you're here," Dash started. "We're throwing a party. You want in?"

"You don't really want me." I glanced over at Dani. "You're only inviting me because she said so."

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

I knew that was the case, but actually hearing him admit it so blatantly drove my hands into fists.

"Well, you can forget it. I'm out of here."

I packed my things and walked out the door alone. Or so I wished. Dash walked out the study room with me.

"What's your problem?"

"Quit following me!" I picked up the pace and ran into a maze of bookshelves.

I paced through the maze. For some reason, it felt like my life, my friends' and family's lives, depended on outrunning Dash. A myriad of faint screams echoed through the array of wooden shelves. I could discern Sam's voice, and my dad's, which was kinda hard to miss.

Dash's footsteps grew closer. "You can't hide forever!" His voice got deeper with each word, more menacing.

The floor beneath me started to break into pieces, falling down into nothingness.

My skin turned greenish-white. I finally reached the glass door of the library but fell back to the ground when I saw my reflection. The haunted eyes that stared back and the dark circles underneath them made the long, drawn face almost unrecognizable. I waved my hand and the person waved back. It was me. My hair was a white blaze.

That's when the floor completely vanished and I fell through.

I landed on the floor of Vlad's mansion, with Plasmius looming over me.

"For future reference: knock before entering someone's home, or you'll end up on the floor, as you are now."

I blasted him with a handful of ecto-energy, sending him flying up and into a drapery of himself.

"For future reference: When you have the upper hand, don't let your guard down, or you'll end up a wall decoration, as you are now." I retorted.

"Ah, plagiarism. I see your comebacks still need improvement," said Vlad as he stood back up.

"Why did you follow me here," I pressed.

"Daniel, as much as I'd love to feed your ego, you are _not_ the only thing on my agenda. And as it so happens, I'm running a bit behind schedule, so if you could scurry along and torment some Box Ghost, that would be much appreciated."

"Why should I –"

"Uh, Danny?"

I turned around to find my 14-year-old cousin standing behind me. I hadn't yet registered that the building Vlad and I were in had vanished.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked.

"Danielle?"

"Sup, cuz?"

I shifted my attention back to the fruit loop half-ghost who was taunting me moments ago. Or not. Vlad had vanished, just like his mansion had.

Danielle and I were alone on what looked like a U.F.O-shaped islet floating in the Ghost Zone.

I rubbed my eyes. "Am I hallucinating?"

"Yeah, you look like you've just seen a ghost," said Danielle smugly.

"Ha-ha," I spat, which was more recognition than I should've given her. "How do I know _you're_ real?"

Danielle raised a hand and did the last thing I expected; she slapped me.

"Ow!"

Danielle chuckled. "Does that answer your question?"

"I mean, I guess?" I grumbled as I rubbed my bruised left cheek. "Where…"

Before I could finish my question, a sharp pain filled my chest, like my heart had turned to metal and was trying to escape my rib cage any way it could. My vision faded to darkness. I don't remember how much time had passed, but after a while, my vision was restored, and I saw a familiar ghost. A teal-skinned man with fiery white hair. He wore a white jumpsuit with a black 'Y' shape stretched vertically along the torso. In the center of his chest rested the same stylized "D" that I sported.

"Hello, Danny."

It was my evil older self.

I clenched my fists in rage.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted, closing my eyes and putting all my strength into that last word, causing it to echo as green shockwaves in increasing size found their way out my mouth: my Ghostly Wail.

I don't really remember what happened after that because after that I passed out, only to wake up in Walker's Prison.


	6. Chapter 6

**Section 6: Valerie's POV**

 **Fenton Works, Amity Park**

Being a ghost sucked. I didn't know how long Danny had been Phantom, but I could nonetheless never imagine how he managed to: A) keep it a secret for, and B) put up with it, and for that long. Before we move on, let me give you a little recap of what just happened. After I took care of the ecto-brat, Andong Jack-o'-Nine-Tail'ed me and sucked me in the Fenton Thermos.

It felt like being under anesthesia. You remember everything leading up to your getting knocked out, but everything after that is all a mystery.

Next thing I knew, I was in the Fenton Works Ghost Lab, in a cylindrical cage made of what seemed to be glass. It was still frigid. There were five people in the room, besides me.

I reached out to touch the barrier between me and the rest of the lab, fully expecting a rebound of some kind; I felt nothing but the relatively temperate see-through wall.

Unfortunately, I hadn't cut my nails in a while because the second my nails made contact with the barrier, the oddly shaped room amplified the sound waves and carried them into the ears of everyone in the room.

"Hey, Valerie's awake," said Tucker. Sitting beside him was Sam.

The second my eyes met hers, I'd wished I hadn't.

"This is all _your_ fault," Sam accused "Because of you and your stupid obsession with hunting ghosts, Danny's nowhere to be found."

I couldn't think of a good enough reason to deny it.

"What does ghost hunting have to do with the fact that Danny's missing?" Mrs. Fenton asked, arms crossed and toes tapping. She was standing beside Mr. Fenton, Andong, and Jazz.

"Nothing," Sam muttered.

"Yeah," Tucker started. "Just like it has nothing to do with Vlad… ow!"

Sam assumed a modest look as Tucker rubbed his gut and glared at her.

Vlad. That lying, manipulating fruit loop. I was so busy contemplating all the things I would do to him if I ever saw him again that I didn't realize my hands had driven into fists.

During my inner turmoil, Kwan came in with a box of donuts for everyone.

"Valerie," he noted. "What are you doing here?"

"What's wrong, Val?" Tucker had noticed my resentment.

"Nothing," I said. "I'm just not a fan of Vlad."

Mrs. Fenton seemed to be too busy analyzing something to comment on what I said, but Mr. Fenton showed his disagreement, albeit lightheartedly.

"Nonsense," he bellowed, "Vlad's so nice, he can make babies smile!"

"Vlad's the kind of person who'd use his resources to his advantage and take over the world," I spat back.

" _Literally_ ," agreed Sam.

Mrs. Fenton interrupted us, looking confused.

"Jack, tell me this ecto-signature doesn't look familiar."

I later deduced that the thing Mrs. Fenton was analyzing had been a blood sample from me. How I found that out, you ask? It _definitely_ wasn't because there was a sizeable bandage on my arm.

Mr. Fenton took a glance at the screen.

Sometimes I forget just how much of a genius he really is under all that happy-go-lucky density.

"Hey, that's that Danny Phantom's ecto-signature, from that hair sample you have!"

"Right but look at the RNA. There's traces of ectosine and _our_ nucleobases. That means…"

"He's ghost, _and_ human?"

That's what I said. The one thing I shouldn't have said. Sam and Tucker's faces verified that.

"You mean you guys didn't know? Danny is half-ghost."

"Danny as in, our son?"

"Our boy is a chimera," Mrs. Fenton breathed hysterically.

After all that crap Sam had given me, I wasn't exactly mining for her approval to what I was revealing to the Fentons and Andong.

"Yeah, and so is Vlad."

Mrs. Fenton turned to Danny's two best friends.

"Did you two know about this?"

Sam and Tucker exchanged a quick glance and decided there was no point in lying about it with all the scientific evidence there was backing my claim up.

"You see," Sam started, "It all began when you guys couldn't get the Ghost Portal to work. He wanted to make you guys proud of him for getting it to work on his own. He went inside it, and there was this accident and…"

"I even wrote a rap about it," Tucker interjected, "Yo Danny Fenton he was just fourteen, when…"

"Please stop."

"We need to capture Danny," stated Andong, not realizing he would be outnumbered all-to-one in that motion.

"Dad," Kwan said, "I agree that we need to find Danny, but I don't think capturing him is the best idea."

"You're only 16, son. You don't know better."

"Actually, I _do_ know better. You're the one who's blinded by your hatred towards ghosts. I keep telling you, your anger is ill-founded, Phantom isn't the reason that happened two years ago. He _saved_ us."

After a moment of contemplation, Andong finally spoke. "Did you know Phantom was a chimera?"

"No," said Kwan. "I didn't even know half-ghosts were a thing. I think the Fentons can agree with me when I say that we didn't even know it was biologically possible. We knew Phantom had to have a hiding place, we just didn't know that Danny _was_ that hiding place."

It had been so long since I actually talked to Kwan that I had almost forgot how much of a science buff he was.

"Jack, is everything okay?" Mrs. Fenton tended to her concerned and emotional husband though I could tell she wasn't much better off.

"Dann-o got his powers from the ghost portal _I_ built," he sniffled "And V-man probably got his powers from that proto-ghost portal we built in our college days. My obsession with ghosts has caused nothing but pain. Maybe I should just… call it quits? Shut down the Fenton Portal?"

I sympathized with him. I remember Danny telling me how my dad wanted him to "keep his family's ghost weirdness away from me." He was afraid it would get me hurt. Especially after he found out I had been hunting ghosts without his knowledge with the equipment Vlad gave me. And here I was now, a half-ghost. Or chimera. Whatever you want to call it.

"You're wrong about your 'obsession'," I didn't even think. Words just started coming out of my mouth. "It's true, ghosts exist. And your son is one of them. But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You've seen all the heroics of Danny Phantom on the news. Not all ghosts are out to destroy the world, and Danny being half-ghost doesn't make him any less a hero."

"You really think so?" Mr. Fenton asked through a waterfall of tears.

I responded with a reassuring nod.

"So, who here thinks we need to find Danny?" Kwan addressed the room, voicing my thoughts.

Everyone, including Andong, raised their hands.

"Survey says," Sam stated with a smile, "Everyone."

, She walked up to my cell and pressed a button on the miniature podium beside me. The cell walls rose and folded until all that was left of it was a glass circle on the ceiling.

"Sorry for yelling at you earlier," Sam apologized, twiddling her foot. "I just got emotional and spoke without thinking and…"

"Apology accepted," I answered with a slightly forced smile.

"Alright," Tucker exclaimed firing finger guns at me, "Let's hit the ghost towns!"

"Not so fast," objected Mrs. Fenton. "Jack and I have a couple of questions for you. About other secrets you've been keeping from us." She then turned to me. "Valerie, sweetie. You and Kwan go search for Danny. You're an intelligent young woman. I trust you two can find him on your own."

Tucker expressed his discomfort with that arrangement, while Sam forced a nod of understanding.

"You can even use the Specter Speeder MK2." Mr. Fenton was back to his lighthearted self. "Now, I bet you're all wondering what earned it the status of MK2."

I wasn't particularly interested in that, but I figured I'd humor him.

"The difference, is that there's cup-holders."

I was glad Mrs. Fenton agreed to letting me go into the Ghost Zone. Not because I wanted to look for Danny myself. That urgency was there, but it wasn't there in solitude. I was hoping to find another ghost in the Ghost Zone. One that I had sent there before being kidnapped by Andong.

I was hoping to find Dani.


	7. Chapter 7

**Section 7: Technus' POV**

 **Walker's Prison, Ghost Zone**

Never have I felt so uncomfortable inhabiting a laptop before. It was humiliating. I was just standing by, waiting for the ghost child to wake up and be not-so-warmly welcomed to the prison cell that would be his home, if all things went according to plan.

I bore through the disgrace to my ghosthood by keeping in mind that Phantom was now in the same position I had been in when Walker first threw me into this prism-shaped cell a little over a year ago.

The floor was a big triangle with long rectangles for walls and another large triangular ceiling. On the floor was the table on which my laptop-inhabiting self was. In front of the table was a chair, in which sat the asleep ghost child in question.

I doubted giving up his core was the reason he got teleported to the Ghost Zone, where Walker and I found him helplessly floating in unconscious.

Rather, his lack of a human self to switch back to as well as the unconscious ghost hunter lying beside him accounted for circumstantial evidence that he was a threat, thus being beamed by his mother into the Ghost Zone.

Moving on.

The ghost child finally phased into consciousness as he moaned and attempted to get a feel for where me was. After he finally took everything in and looked onto my laptop, my screen flickered on and the ghost warden greeted the newly-awake ghost child.

"Wakey-wakey, ghost boy."

"Walker?"

"Lovely night for trespassing, don't you think?"

"But I was just… where was I? Danielle?" Phantom looked around once again trying to recall how he had gotten into this situation, to no avail. He seemed to be talking to someone, though I couldn't figure out who, unless his ghost cousin was talking to him telepathically.

"Your cousin is safe in another cell. You two were helplessly floating around in the Ghost Zone first I saw you this wonderful evening. The ghost girl thought 'Hey, police will know what to do' and came with me to my office. Now, you're in my custody."

The ghost child finally regained full control of his senses. He tried changing back into his human self but couldn't, proving my theory to be correct, as they usually were.

"I can't change back?"

"Surprise," the ghost warden spat back. "Anyway. Welcome to the Prisn. It's like 'prison' but without the 'o'. I'm very proud of it."

The ghost child tried sliding his wrists out of the cuffs that bound them to his chair's shoulder rests. "It's a pretty impressive cell."

"Hmm? Oh, I was talking about the name, but I guess the cell's pretty good, too. Small talk aside, you have a visitor, if you can call him that."

Ah! That was my cue. The ghost warden disconnected from the conference call and my face occupied the space that was left behind.

"Hello, ghost child. I like the heterochromia."

Phantom didn't seem to know what I was talking about, nor could I blame him. After all, it's not like he had a mirror to view his single glowing green eye and it's opposing plain blue one.

"Technus?" The ghost child took a moment to take in my skin color, which was not unlike his, with added wrinkles here and there, as well as my newly-black hair. "You look…"

"Human? So nice of you to notice. Thanks to my latest invention, I'm now a halfa, just like you."

"Neat." Phantom remained silent for a good minute before he continued. "I'm guessing they don't have air conditioning in the Ghost Zone?"

The child couldn't see me blinking in shock past my sunglasses, but I imagined him reading into it from my facial expression.

As I was now human, I had obtained everything that made humans so great and, at the same time, corrupt. From the adaptability that granted halfas access to every ghost power ever conceived to the more humane spectrum of emotions that dragged them down: the only imperfection that made my new-found powers worthless.

I failed to mention this before, but this was the entire basis of my plan to restore my full-ghost self. When I had used my Ghostly Wail on the ghost warden and his officers, all the destruction I had caused made me feel sorrow: guilt for using my powers for evil.

Just like when I was full-human, when I found out my inventions were being used to spread war and disaster. That made me feel guilt. The guilt that drove me to jumping off a bridge to escape the emotion. The same guilt that I had felt when I used my ghostly wail for the first time.

"Fear. Anguish. These are two fundamental traits of humans. You might never see your friends again, yet you are so calm. What is your secret?"

The ghost child chuckled ever so slightly. "You think I'm indifferent? If my human half was still there, my ghost would jump right out. Joking about it just helps me relax, concentrate, forget how scared I am."

I hate to say it, but Phantom impressed me once again. Here he was, a 16-year-old boy with more maturity and emotional stability than I had at age 53. However, …

"That is admirable. Though it will not get you very far. After all, you still need to get out of this cell, and without your human half, that is almost impossible."

The ghost child once more played with the shackles that bound him to the chair. He knew that if he were able to turn human, he'd be able to phase through all things made of ecto-matter in the Ghost Zone. He turned his attention back to me. "I don't suppose you have a key? Or a way to restore my human half?"

"I thought you'd never ask," I said with a grin. "I can help you get your human half back, but you have to trust me."

Hysteria took over the joking façade the ghost child wore. "Trust you?! All you've ever wanted was to wreak havoc on the world!"

That comment made me smirk. "I will conquer the world someday, but evidently, today is not that day. Don't you want to save your friends?"

The ghost child calmed down and looked to be considering his options.

"Ahah! It's a pinch! A Catch-22! Trust me, and you are surrendering your morals. Decline, and you forsake your only chance at saving your dissociative ghost-hunter girlfriend."

"She's not my... dissociative?"

"Thanks to your 'act of bravery,' Valerie is now half-ghost and is struggling with the fact that the boy she loves is the ghost she despises the most." Looking back on it, I probably should not have told him that. I was afraid he would ask me how I knew what the angry ghost hunter was going through and didn't want to admit that the time ghost had a hand to play in his imprisonment.

Luckily, he ignored my front of omniscience.

"But... I... she..."

I hated how I once again could understand the turmoil Phantom was going through. "Ah, the aforementioned anguish. I'll say it again. You can save her. All you have to do is trust me."

After thinking it through, he finally nodded in agreement.

I expressed my delight in his wordless acknowledgement. "First, a little background information. I created my own Ghost Portal using your cytoplasm I found in the Fenton Watch. This 'Cyto-Portal' made me half-human much in the same way your Ghost Portal made you half-ghost."

"And… how is that going to help _me_?"

"My human-half's core is made up of _your_ cytoplasm. I can transmit that cytoplasm to you, extract the part of me that makes me human, and add it to your core, restoring your human-half."

"And… how are you going to do _that_?"

I took a deep breath in and visualized myself as I was: nothing more than a data stream. The laptop I occupied started glowing red and matching rings of ecto-energy started orbiting it, like electron orbitals on an atom. The red soon turned green, and out of the screen came my ghost self: green skin and all.

"Master of all technology. Right."

That was the first time that I had turned from human to ghost. It was a unique feeling. Not unpleasant, just unique.

I grabbed the ghost child by the shoulders and concentrated on my central core, just above the stomach.

"What are you..."

Before Phantom could finish his question, green ecto-energy started surrounding us. His one remaining glowing green eye turned blue His hair gradually changed from white to black, and his signature cyan rings materialized around his waist, moving in opposite directions as his black jumpsuit and fancy "D" turned into his old white shirt with a red circle on the chest.

I could feel the part of my that was human slowly fading away; thankfully my emotions seemed to be going away with it.

"Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHA." I suddenly felt all-powerful as I shouted into the sky. "Weak Nicolai Magnus is no more! I am Technus, master of all things mechanical once again!"

It felt so good to be free of those human emotions once again. You only appreciate something when it's gone, and my freedom from emotions was something that I had missed dearly. Now it was time to double-cross the ghost child and…

I was planning on turning on the Prisn's anti-ghost, anti-human shield and keep Phantom trapped in the Ghost Zone, but by the time I had come back to reality from admiring my genius, the child, as well as the ghost girl in the cell next to us, had already vacated the premises.

"Darn it," I yelled in frustration. "I thought I was past this imperfection!"

"Remember your promise. _You_ do as _I_ say." The laptop had turned on the conference call and the ghost warden had come on screen.

That was when I realized this was all a part of his plan. "You knew he'd break free, didn't you? You blew what was possibly our only chance at saving the future."

"What I _did_ was give Phantom the push he needed to be able to save his friends. He'll be locked in here for good sooner or later, but with his spirit intact and for _me_ to crush. Now why don't you do something besides give me a headache?"

I blinked in astonishment. "Sheesh. Touchy subject much?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Section 8: Valerie's POV**

 **Ghost Zone**

I remember it like it was yesterday. The day Danny Phantom and his ghost dog ruined my life. The day I lost all my friends. Dash. Paulina. Kwan. I swore I'd never talk to them again. Star was the only friend I needed. She was the only one who liked me despite my financial status. Or so I thought, until I interacted with Kwan again.

"This place is freaky." Kwan had technically been in the Ghost Zone once before when the Ghost King dragged Amity Park into it, but I guess that wasn't the same as floating around in only the Specter Speeder.

"Yeah," I spat back.

Last time I was in the Ghost Zone, I had my original ghost hunting gear on. And I wasn't a ghost myself. Something about the Ghost Zone this time around made it almost cozy, like I belonged here.

I could no longer feel the cold I did back on Earth; the ectoplasm around us was welcoming and comfortable. I wondered if this was what Danny felt when he was in the Ghost Zone.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"Once." There was a time when Kwan and Star lost their popularity, so they probably knew what I was going through; that didn't stop me from being passive aggressive towards Kwan.

Kwan picked up on my passive aggressiveness. "Is something wrong?"

"What couldn't be wrong," I spat back. "You guys abandoned me when I lost it all. Apparently, the only _real_ friend I had was your girlfriend."

Remorse etched its way into Kwan's eyes. "I'm sorry. I know it doesn't fix what happened, but I just want you to know that, if it were up to me, I would never have ended our friendship. Dash can be really uptight about this stuff, and I didn't want to lose my place in the A-Listers."

That was actually the main reason I originally didn't like Danny, Sam, and Tucker. They were the bottom of the social grape vine. I never really got to know them and despised them solely based on their unpopularity.

"I think, now that I know Fenton is Danny Phantom, he and you can even be part of the A-Listers again. Paulina would be really happy about that."

I wasn't sure if Danny would've been okay with the entire school knowing he was Danny Phantom, but one thing I wanted to be sure about was why Kwan accepted the fact that Danny was half-ghost so easily. After all, I'm assuming his father hated ghosts, considering he was a ghost hunter.

"I'm surprised," I started. "Surprised that you're a diehard fan of Danny Phantom when your dad hates him."

"He misunderstands. Around two years ago, Dash and I were at the Amity Park Zoo. Dash accidentally broke a cage and let out a Colorado Bighorn. Danny Phantom saved our lives. By the time my old man found out, the news was saying Phantom had caused the accident. He thinks I was and am too immature to realize the news was right. But I was actually _there_. I know for a fact that Danny saved us."

I knew what it was like to have an opinion that went against a parent's beliefs. I was a ghost hunter against my father's wishes, after all. I was surprised Kwan was going through something similar, especially with the fact that he was so easily manipulated by Dash.

"I…"

Before I could finish my sentence, a small screen in the center of the main controls popped up. A green circular grid with a red dot on the upper left side. The top of the grid said "Cyto-detector.

"Cytoplasmic anomaly found. Real world being detected."

"It could be Danny," Kwan exclaimed.

"It could be Dani," I said under my breath.

And with that, we were off to find the world's bravest half-ghost and, if luck were on our side, his younger female clone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Section 9: Dani's POV**

 **Ghost Zone**

"I think it's safe to say you're no illusion, huh?"

Sometimes I wondered how I could be a clone of someone who's skull was as thick as Danny's. "You're _still_ on about that?"

We had just escaped from Walker's Prison using our human halves' abilities to walk through Ghost Zone matter. We were flying through the Ghost Zone in search of a portal into the human world. Danny had also mentioned there being a Ghost of Time that could send us back to where we needed to be, but immediately dismissed the idea. Apparently, Danny had given him a pet ghost owl as a Halloween present and didn't want to bother him as he had his fun.

Anyway, moving on to the Ghost Zone. It was my first time being in here. It was a lot warmer than the Human World, though all the spectral noise _did_ give me a slight headache. Danny said that would go away as I got used to it. I also noticed my ghost powers were stronger in the Ghost Zone. I'm not much of a scientist, but I figured it was because the ectoplasm in my body built up faster here than in the Human World.

Moving back to my conversation with Danny.

"It's been a long week," replied Danny defensively. "So, how did you even get into the Ghost Zone?"

I'll be honest. I originally thought I was dreaming. I was about to be hit by an anti-ghost blast, and the first thing I saw after opening my eyes from flinching was the green cesspool of ghost matter we were currently flying in.

I shook my head. "I don't know. One minute I was about to be blasted to bits by Valerie, then the next, I was watching you hallucinate."

"Valerie was attacking you?"

"Yeah. Something was off about her. She had ghost powers. And she seemed a little lost."

"Yeah, I bet." Danny's eyebrows were etched with confusion. He seemed to be a bit lost, as well, and not just in the literal sense.

"What's wrong," I asked.

Danny looked at me, then turned away. "I can't help but think it's all my fault. If I had just been more conscious of my surroundings, maybe Valerie's life would've never been in danger. And now, even _I_ don't know what's happening to me with these sharp pains in my chest."

Ever since Danny and Valerie saved me all those months ago, I've been emotionally linked to Danny. Sometimes, I could feel what he felt. What he felt right now was genuine remorse. He truly thought everything that had happened over the last two days were his fault.

I stopped flying kept floating, with Danny following suit. I couldn't say anything to make him feel better about Valerie; only Valerie herself could do that. I could, however, give him some insight about his 'illness'.

"Actually, _I've_ seen it before. I saw it in one of Vlad's clones. There was too much ectoplasm for your human half to handle. I think letting out your echo-y ghost power fixed it, though."

Danny had just realized that he hadn't felt any sharp pains in his chest since then. "Or maybe it was getting half of Technus' core."

That could've been it. I wasn't entirely focusing on what Danny was saying because there was some other noise that was bothering me. Besides the purring Danny said everything in the Ghost Zone does.

 _Wait, do you hear that?_

I wasn't sure if this noise was friendly or hostile so I telepathically communicated with Danny to avoid the unknown party hearing us.

"Hear what?" Danny didn't seem to realize I had asked him telepathically and spoke out loud.

 _Shhh._

It was then that a sort of space ship had blazed in beside us. I remembered it from the first time Danny and I fought Vlad with each other. It meant it was a friendly! Sorry, I just got really excited at that moment.

"The Spector Speeder?"

There were two people in the spaceship: Valerie, who had tears streaming down her face for some reason, and a buff Asian guy in a red-and-white letterman jacket and black shirt, who seemed oddly familiar. He looked to be around Danny's and Valerie's age.

"Fenton-Meister! Looking good!"

Danny looked down at his clothes to make sure he was still in his ghost form. I assumed this new guy wasn't supposed to know Danny was half-ghost.

"I call shotgun," Danny exclaimed as he took off and phased through the ghost cruiser. He probably assumed that Valerie had told him and considering the Asian dude's persona towards him, he presumed, like I did, that he was okay with it, even idolizing him.

"Hey, no fair!"

The Asian guy was sitting in the front, piloting the Spector Speeder, while Valerie was sitting beside him, but had moved into the back seat right when they arrived, as if they had planned who would be sitting where. That meant I had to sit next to Valerie. I wasn't particularly upset about that.

The moment we got into the Spector Speeder, Valerie turned to me and hugged me.

"Hey, Dani? I just wanted to say sorry for being so antagonistic earlier. I had a lot going on and wasn't thinking straight, to say the least."

I understood where she was coming from. I felt the same way when the man I thought cared about me turned around and revealed I was nothing more than a puppet to him, or as he put it, "existed to serve him." I was apologetic towards Danny for double-crossing him. Now, Valerie was in the same place.

"It's okay," I said. "I get where you're coming from."

I then turned my attention towards my half-ghost original sitting in the seat in front of me.

 _Such a romantic date for you and Valerie: The Ghost Zone._

Danny turned his head slightly towards me, enough so he could see me through his peripheral vision.

 _I'd rather be in the Ghost Zone than the Friend Zone._

I let out a light chuckle, which was more than I should've done.

My chuckle grabbed the attention of a sound-sensitive Valerie. "What's up?"

"Hmm? Nothing!"

Valerie noticed Danny and I were staring at each other but wasn't sure why, which was fine by me. I'm no social expert, but I figured it would've been best to keep her in the dark about this.

Valerie gave us the rundown of what had happened in Fenton Works.

"My folks are gonna kill me when I get back," Danny complained, talking about his parents knowing he's half-ghost.

"Actually," the Asian guy retorted, "They seemed pretty chill about it. A couple of concerns about your safety, but all in all, I think they're proud of you."

"Thanks, Kwan."

The rest of the ride was in silence, though it wasn't for very long as a few minutes later, we were at the Fenton Ghost Portal.

I could sense Danny's stiffness about the whole situation.

There were three people in the room besides us four. Danny's mom, his sister, and the Asian guy from before that looked like an older version of Kwan; he was probably his dad.

Mrs. Fenton ran up to Danny and gave him a big hug. "Danny, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Danny welcomed the embrace. "You're… you're not upset with me? I mean, I kept a crucial part of my life a secret from you guys for all these years."

"Sweetie." Danny's mom pulled away keeping her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, you're a ghost, but from what Tucker and Sam told me, you've been a pain in the butt to all the evil ghosts out there in your own unique way!"

"Thanks, mom."

Danny's mom then moved over and bent her knees down making eye contact with me. "And who might you be?"

I was tempted to use the speech I used when I first met Danny, but I figured this time around I'd be truthful.

"I'm Danielle. I'm a clone of Danny made by Vlad."

Mrs. Fenton's eyes willed with disdain. "Vlad. Why am I not surprised?"

"Is that… okay?" I was afraid her hatred towards Vlad would extent to me. The last thing I wanted was for a potential parental figure to hate me. Especially after what Vlad put me through.

Her eyes reverted back to joy. "Oh, of course, sweetie! If you need a place to stay, you're more than welcome to come live with us."

Danny walked up to me from behind and put his hands on my shoulders. "You'll be the sister I always wanted!"

Jazz was hurt by that comment. "Hey," she pouted.

"Oh, you know I'm kidding," Danny said with a grin.

Jazz walked up to him and vigorously rubbed his hair. "I know."

"I guess," Kwan's dad started, "Valerie _is_ a capable young girl. And Danny? Both of you. You both are prime examples of ghosts that are also humane."

Kwan's dad turned to his son. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you sooner about Phantom being a good ghost. I hope you can forgive me."

Kwan fought back tears as he mustered his next words. "Who you _really_ need forgiveness from," he started, "is Mom."

Kwan's dad let out a smile. "You're right. How would you like to come with me to meet your mother?"

"I'd love to, dad."

Kwan and his father left the Fenton Lab, the latter's arm around the former. I imagined they had a lot of catching up to do with Kwan's mom.

After that, Mrs. Fenton grabbed my shoulder in one hand, then Jazz's in another and pushed me out of the room. "Come, you two. I feel Danny and Valerie have some talking to do."

I happened so fast, but I did see out of the corner of my eye that Danny and Valerie were uncomfortably standing near each other. And, although they were uncomfortable, I picked up another feeling from Danny.

All his friends and family knew about his ghost powers and supported the work he did. He felt really relaxed about it. He felt like he was finally at peace.


End file.
